


Be A Burning Star If It Takes All Night

by ginnybadger



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: M/M, Magic, Parallel Universes, Talking plant, the Universe and Fate as entities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 06:52:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11076300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnybadger/pseuds/ginnybadger
Summary: Tyler doesn't live what people would call a normal life.He brings Josh into this non-normal life of his.Josh, well, he adapts to it like a fish to water.





	Be A Burning Star If It Takes All Night

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this one sitting in my finished folder for quite some time. I watched a lot of Noel Fielding interviews and shows before writing this, and here it is. 
> 
> This one is for my fave, im_a_lime. Hope you enjoy it. 
> 
> Features parallel universes, talking plants, strange occurrences, and magic.

The first time Josh meets Tyler, he thinks he’s an interesting enough guy. He talks about a lot of weird things, sure, but that’s part of what makes Josh so fascinated by him. By their fourth time hanging out, Tyler invites Josh over and simply goes “I’m gonna show you something, don’t freak out,” which immediately made him freak out.

After following Tyler up to his apartment, Josh is even more fascinated and he quickly forgets his terror. There are shelves upon shelves filled with books, but not the ones he’s used to seeing in any old bookstore, and there are cabinets filled with knickknacks (he thinks, he’s not entirely sure) and the furniture seems antique, mismatched in a way that still works. He feels like he’s stepped in some strange bubble, but he doesn’t mind it, and he realizes that Tyler’s apartment smells like sage.

He looks up and sees Tyler carrying a plant.

“Is this it?” he asks, staring as Tyler sets it down on the table with a giant grin on his face.

“Yep! This is Jiffy, felt like you should meet them,” he says, gesturing to the plant.

“Oh, that’s so swe-“ he begins to say, but he gets off with a “Pleasure to meet you Josh! Tyler has spoken very highly of you!” from the direction of the plant.

“Did-”

“Yes. I am a sentient being. Tyler saved me from the wreckage of a home many moons ago. He is a kind human, truly,” the plant says, though it has no mouth that Josh can see. Tyler just beams down at it.

“Oh stop it you. You only say that because I put some nice compost in this morning,” he says.

“They can. Jiffy can talk?” he asks, staring at Tyler wide eyed.

“Of course they can! They’re from a different sub species of plants actually and-oh hey Josh you okay?”

Josh is not okay.

Josh is very not okay.

He feels himself sink into a chair, guided by Tyler’s hands.

“Shit, sorry, I forget not everyone is used to this. I’ll go get you some water okay?” he says, disappearing and leaving Josh to stare at the plant.

This was, of course, his introduction into the world of being best friends with one Tyler Robert Joseph

\--

Eventually, Josh had gotten an explanation. It was a strange one, but it was something and he cared about Tyler enough to just accept it. Tyler, aside from working as an editor for a couple online blogs, made some extra money investigating and helping people solve what could be summed up as paranormal issues. Tyler explained to him that, while they were living in one singular planet and in one state of being, there were multiple unexplained phenomena that could happen and he had simply been trained through his life to be able to deal with them. (Actually, Tyler had tried to explain many concepts at once, but Jiffy had stopped him, reminded him that Josh had not been brought up in what could honestly be compared to the equivalent of the Addams family and would therefore just have to learn as he went).

Of course, this meant that Josh was now a part of these extra curricular activities. For all that he was a little freaked out by his first encounter with Jiffy, once his eyes had been opened to it, Josh found himself being far more receptive to the things around him that were…less than normal. He found himself being gifted with a necklace from Tyler that would help ground him and protect him, “Because I care about you and now that you know this stuff exists, it can get a little messy,” and even though he thought it was silly that a piece of leather cording and a hand carved piece of wood could protect him, Tyler had been very sincere about it, and he therefore never took it off.

Josh, when not helping Tyler research or find one thing or other from obscure vendors, spent his regular hours working in a record shop. It’s mundane now compared to the things Tyler sometimes talks about getting to do, but there are certain days where Tyler will come and hang out with him in the back when it’s not busy up front and share with him any new adventures he’s working on. His favorite to date was the time traveler gig in south Columbus which had resulted in Tyler simply giving him directions to the interstate and handing him a hand drawn map of the timeline of the history of the United States. (It’s his favorite because it’s one of the rare moments in which he doesn’t constantly fear for Tyler’s life).

The problem is also that while the paranormal gigs are fun, they’re far between at best. It’s not a regular occurrence that they’ll get a call, but recently Columbus in general had been plagued with more and more strange happenings. Tyler was ecstatic, of course. He lived for his side job, and Josh would be a liar if he didn’t admit that he was slowly becoming more and more excited the more they handled these jobs.

It is however very rare the occurrence in which Josh will himself stumble on an urgent situation that needs to be taken care of by Tyler and himself. It’s even a more rare occurrence when it happens in the middle of the record shop he works at.

But of course, it was a Friday. The third Friday of the month. And of course, Tyler had been ominous about how third Fridays of the month should be carefully planned out and how he’d “placed the tarot cards out and trust me, Jiffy can testify to this, something is gonna happen,” and damn it, he hates when Tyler is ominous about anything because it always ends up happening.

He doesn’t think much of it, until he reaches work, where a box with a singular record is on the counter. He realizes, soon enough, that no one else had been in since he’d closed the shop last night, and since he’d opened that morning.

Mysteriously appearing record. Nice.

He carefully peers into the box, and utters a singular “fuck”, because the record is glowing dangerous red and oozing black goo that seems to float a few inches in the air above the record. He sighs, annoyed, but knows better than to even think about touching the box itself. He hears the bell above the door chime, signaling the arrival of customers, so he simply rolls his eyes and sets a stack of less important records that still need to be sorted on top of the box. Out of sight, sort of out of mind. He can hear a faint yet angry buzz begin to come from the box and he simply goes “oh, shut up” before beginning to play the playlist he’d made for the day.

He’s finally able to give Tyler a call around lunchtime, and the box is still angrily buzzing on the counter next to him as he does.

“Hey! What’s up man? I was thinking about bringing you lunch, so do you want me to bring-“

“What do you know about possessed records?”

He can practically hear Tyler grinning through the phone. “Joshua Dun are you telling me you might have a possessed record in your shop?”

He sighs, “Yes. I opened up the shop and there was this box sitting on the counter that wasn’t there before. It’s currently angrily humming at me. It glows red and has black goo that can levitate,” he says, already hearing Tyler tossing things into a backpack.

“Okay, don’t touch it and I’ll be right over!” he says, glee evident in his voice before hanging up on Josh. Josh rolls his eyes, sets the sign on the door saying they’re closed and waits impatiently for Tyler.

Tyler shows up, grinning like a mad man and saunters over to the counter, shoving a bag of food into Josh’s hands and letting his backpack drop onto the floor with a jingle of glass. “Show me what ya got Joshie,” he says, bouncing on his toes a little. Josh rolls his eyes, takes a bite of the burrito Tyler brought him and carefully removes the stack of records from atop the box. Immediately the room is filled with a red glow and the buzzing dies down. “See?” he says, taking another bite of his food, “it gets angry when I cover it in any way.”

Tyler immediately backs away, look of disgust on his face. “You would go and get a cursed record delivered to your shop, wouldn’t you?” he says, taking the second burrito out of the bag and taking a huge bite. Josh just shrugs, grabbing a tortilla chip, hopeful that Tyler brought guacamole (he did).

“It’s not like I asked for a cursed record. It just kinda showed up,” he says, taking a sip of his drink. “So what are we gonna do about it?”

“Well, we can’t un-curse it,”

“WHAT? Why not!”

“Because the demonic forces need to stay trapped in the record if not they’ll just spread around willy nilly. Haven’t you been reading the stuff I’ve given you?”

Josh rolls his eyes. Of course he hasn’t. It’s dull reading at best and sometimes it’s in Latin and he doesn’t have the time to use the dictionary for translation and also read the texts.

“I knew it. Jiffy said he’d just read it out loud to you with more action plot. Anyways, we gotta make sure that the demonic force stays bound to the record and then we can just… I guess bind it to the box and the shop,”

“To the shop!? Are you nuts!”

“No! Listen, even demonic forces of nature need stability. And, it kinda likes you!” Tyler says, looking toward the box with a bit of a smile on his face. Josh follows his line of vision, and sees where the black goo is starting to inch toward his arm. He quickly pulls it away and points at the box going “Absolutely not!” The box makes a sadder sounding buzzing noise, and the black goo recedes back. “Sorry, but just. Behave,” he says to it, ignoring the way Tyler is already giggling and taking jars out of his backpack. He watches as Tyler lays out glass jars, murky from dust, a package of red vines, three candles of varying colors, a Mars bar, an amethyst crystal pendant and a piece of pastel pink chalk. He looks at Tyler, who just shrugs.

“I ran out of regular white chalk, and these kids where drawing on the sidewalk and I asked if I could borrow a piece and the little girl said I could have pink because of my kimono. Anyways, have you considered going back to pink for your hair? It looked so good on you,”

“Tyler, focus”

“Right, yeah. Anyways,” he says, drawing interlocking circles on the counter top and placing the candles within them and lighting them. He scatters stuff from the different jars into the flames, and Josh really hopes it doesn’t set off the fire alarm and sprinklers in the shop. Immediately, the box starts to hiss, almost in pain. He feels a little bad, the goo rising and trying to reach for Josh but failing to. In the center of the circle, Tyler puts the crystal and the Mars bar as an offering to the spirit. After a few phrases, the ominous red glow from the box turns into a more vibrant pink, the low hissing has stopped and Josh peers into the box. The black goo is still there, but it seems far less threatening now.

“Awesome! Here, you can feed it these,” Tyler says, handing Josh the package of red vines.

“What”

“Demonic entities love red vines. Proven fact. Anyways, the box is harmless now. Think of it like your record store cat or something. Worst it’ll do is wrap it’s goo around your arm but it won’t harm you. Or it may cause things to float mysteriously. But I think that’ll add ambiance more than anything,” he says, tossing things back into his backpack, sticking four tortilla chips into his mouth and using the sleeve of his hoodie to wipe off the chalk.

Josh just sighs, breaks a red vine into smaller pieces and goes “here buddy,” to the box as he tosses them toward the center of the record. They disappear as soon as they touch the light, and a high pitched yet happy sounding hum is heard. He gently picks up the box and takes it to the back and sets it near his desk, before going back to the front to finish his lunch with Tyler, who is already excitedly telling him about some weird possessed 19th century elephant statue he had to fix a couple years back. He later realizes that this was probably the best lunch break he’s had, and he wonders if maybe he could just have Tyler work out of the back room of the record shop anyways, since the desk back there gets very little use.

He texts Tyler later that night with the idea of him just setting up shop in the back room. “Can I bring over some of my books?”

“I don’t see why not?” Josh says over facetime. “I mean, there are plenty of shelves that aren’t being used so you can, sure.”

“How about some jars of things?”

“Yeah sure. Nothing too dangerous though.”

“If I’m working on a piece that I’m not entirely sure of can I bring it in?”

“…As long as it’s not too dangerous” he says, paying attention to how he can hear Jiffy in the background go “WHAT ABOUT ME?” “You can bring Jiffy with you. We can carry him back to your place when we close up,” he says. It’s not like Jiffy is a large plant anyways.

“Heck yeah Joshie, I’ll move in with you,” Tyler finally says, grinning through the tiny screen. Josh wonders if maybe he can suggest moving in to an apartment together one day too. Isn’t that something that normal best friends do?

He begins moving some of his most used items in the next day, and Jiffy is the last piece to be brought over. He cheerily says hello to Josh before he’s placed in front of the window in the office space, and when Josh goes back to see if Tyler wants to take a break for lunch, he can already see that Tyler has fitted the walls with protective symbols. Before he can say much, he feels a box get shoved into his hands. It’s red vines. “I knew you’d get attached,” Tyler says, smiling slightly as he watches Josh walk over toward the box holding the record.

So Tyler, much like the demonically possessed record that Josh has named Huey, (after the demonic spirit had wanted to be named Huitzilopochtli, something neither Josh nor Tyler could actually pronounce but Huey was something the spirit was okay with), became a fixture of the shop, to the point where a separate landline had been added so that Tyler could actually get business cards made and have a legitimate place.

He hated to admit it, but there was something really nice about having Tyler, Jiffy the talking plant (who had recently adopted an English accent after a marathon of Doctor Who), and Huey the cat like demonically possessed record constantly in his store. It felt nice to walk in and smell the mix of old records, coffee and whatever sage bundles Tyler was burning. It was also really nice when he’d catch Tyler in the front, talking to people and suggesting records for them. He hated to admit it, but he could get really used to having Tyler around constantly.

\--

They go about a week with nothing strange happening. Josh should have known better than to have wished that maybe things would become normal like that. In that week, Josh’s apartment lease was almost up and Tyler had invited him to just go live with him (He had. He’d also had to help clear the spare room of the extra books Tyler refused to shelve before Josh arrived). In that week, Josh had also gone ahead and helped Tyler fix the situation with his filing system, taught him that there was more to eat in the world than just toaster waffles, and had been added to Tyler’s Netflix account.

He’s gotten very used to waking up in the new apartment, used to seeing the protective symbols and crystals hanging from his ceiling, the planets and glow in the dark stars Tyler had put up in jest on one of his walls, and used to hearing Jiffy and Tyler usually arguing about one thing or other in the living room.

This morning, however, he wakes up to multiple voices coming from the kitchen it seems. He squints at his phone, realizes it’s Sunday and he doesn’t have to open the shop until one, and gets up tossing a t-shirt on and going to brush his teeth.

He steps out and is greeted by Tyler, and the exact doubles of himself and Tyler.

“Hey! Morning! I made coffee, there’s still some left in the pot, and I managed not to burn the eggs too!” his Tyler says, proud of himself and already getting up to get Josh’s favorite mug, the galaxy cat one, from the cabinet.

“Um, Ty, am I-“

“Oh! Sorry, my bad, this is Tyler and Josh from another parallel universe. They’re in a band together! Isn’t that so cool!” his Tyler says, while parallel Tyler and Josh wave at him.

“Sick hair dude,” his double says, who himself is sporting a neon yellow Mohawk.

He self-consciously ruffles his own purple Mohawk. “Thanks? Um, you’re in a band together?” he asks, taking the mug of coffee from his Tyler.

The other Tyler smiles brightly. “Yeah! We’re called Twenty One Pilots. We’re doing an arena tour right now, supposed to be getting ready for our sound check but then suddenly we were in your living room? Anyways, I play the piano, bass and ukulele. Josh here plays the drums!” he says, talking a lot with his hands. He kind of reminds Josh of his own Tyler with his mannerisms. He notices the wedding band on Tyler’s hand and asks, “Are you two-“

“Oh gosh no! No, we’re just best friends, really. I mean, we have fans who write fiction about us like that? But no, we’re just best friends. I’m married to Jenna. Josh is married to his drums, currently,” Tyler says, while his own double is trying not to laugh.

“To be fair, we do feed into the whole joshler thing a little bit in interviews. It’s funny to us,” his double says, accepting more coffee from Tyler. He realizes that both Tylers have the same ink, as do he and his own double. He wonders if they carry the same meaning, but decides this is already weird enough.

“So, we don’t mean to be rude, and it’s been great getting to know both of you, but could you maybe figure out how to fix this? We have sound check, and if we don’t get there in time, Mark will worry. Not to mention we have a show tonight,” parallel Josh says, looking at regular Tyler.

“Oh! Yeah of course, so typically this happens because there’s a tear in the fabric of time and space,” his Tyler starts rambling on, walking toward the living room, coffee mug in hand and parallel doubles and himself in tow.

“So, here it is!” his Tyler says, gesturing to an actual tear in the center of their living room. It’s swirling black and purples, with the occasional hum of what seems to Josh to be an A-minor note.

“Is that thing humming an A-minor?” he asks, and both his Tyler and parallel versions smile proudly at him.

“Yep! Everything in the universe is actually in minor keys,” his Tyler says before handing his mug to him to place on the table. “I’m going to find some thread really quickly. Um, I don’t really know how to sew though,” his Tyler says, looking at him expectantly.

He sighs. “Yeah it’s fine, I’ll sew it. Bring a lighter too okay? I’ll need to burn the end of the string so it doesn’t come undone,” he says, placing both their mugs on the table and gesturing for their parallel doubles to make themselves at home. He makes small talk while they wait for Tyler, answering that yes, he plays drums too, no, they don’t have a band and they really don’t see themselves starting one any time soon since Tyler really loves this side job he has.

He misses a question that parallel Tyler asks, while he listens to his Tyler rummaging in the other room. “Sorry, what was that?”

“Oh, I asked if you two were together? I mean, you’re living together, you guys are really adorable, honestly, just wondering if there was something there?”

He can feel himself blush a little. It’s not that he hasn’t thought of it; he has, but it’s Tyler and Tyler seems more than happy on his own. “Um, no. No there isn’t. It was just more convenient for us to pull our resources together,” he says, sipping on his coffee and trying to figure out exactly how to sew the fabric of time and space back together.

“That’s nice. But, maybe you should talk to him?” he hears his double say. He pretends not to hear it. He really doesn’t need relationship advice from his own parallel universe double right now.

His Tyler returns, triumphantly holding up a sewing kit. “Found it! Here ya go, Joshie. So you just have to sew it like you would actual fabric. You can touch it, it’s fine. And it won’t suck you in or anything,” he says, flopping down on the other couch and smiling toward their parallel counter parts. Josh finds himself staring at his Tyler, who is struggling to reach his coffee mug before he gives it to him, lowering his head slightly when he smiles up at him and whispers “Thanks.” He looks up at the parallel version of himself who simply mouths “talk to him” before he sits in front of the tear in the living room and begins threading the needle with reflective silver thread.

“Why is it reflective?”

His Tyler just shrugs. “It was the only thing I had around in the cabinet. It’s fine. Oh, so as you sew it, our friends here will begin to fade. It’s totally normal and fine and you guys don’t have to even worry. You’ll appear back in your green room like nothing happened okay? So don’t panic!” he says, smiling at their doubles, who shrug and sit on the couch and watch as Josh begins his work.

He makes pretty quick work of the stitching, noticing how soft the fabric of time and space is and how it actually has reflective bits in it (the thread he’s using actually looks quite nice with it) and only turns around before knotting the thread to wave at the parallel Tyler and Josh, who are just faint ghosts now.

“See ya guys! Um, have fun with your tour?” he says, reaching for the lighter to burn the edge of the knot.

They wave back at him “See ya Josh! Thanks for the coffee, Tyler!” they say, and are completely gone once Josh knots the thread and burns the edge. The tear completely disappears and the living room is back to how it used to be. He puts away the thread and needle, watching as Tyler precariously carries four mugs back into the kitchen and puts them into the sink.

“Hey, so I basically stole your entire morning, but I think you still have some time to eat breakfast? I can warm up the eggs for you again and I think there’s some left over pasta you can pack for a late lunch or I can stop by later? I was going to stop in anyways bu-“ He cuts Tyler off with a strong hug. He feels Tyler return it and smile against his shoulder.

“Everything okay? I know meeting alternate parallel versions of yourself can be kinda weird, but,”

“No, just. Thanks for um. Being in my life I guess. It’s nice to know that even in parallel universes, you’re still around,” he says. He feels Tyler tighten the hug a bit.

“Yeah, love you too Joshie. And I’m sure no matter what parallel universe we’re in, we still meet and get along,” he says.

As he leaves later to the shop, with Tyler carrying Jiffy behind him, left over pasta in a container for the both of them in his red backpack, he realizes he’s truly head over heels for his best friend. His very weird, very strange best friend. He kind of hates his alternate universe self for planting that seed in his head.

\--

Josh kind of hopes it would go away. He tries not to look at Tyler any differently, but it’s hard to ignore the way his heart beat rises a little when Tyler smiles at him, or the way he’s starting to blush far too often when Tyler tells him any kind of compliment.

It’s definitely not going away. It doesn’t help that any time they go and help anyone deal with anything paranormal, they always end the day with “so…you two are an adorable couple!” and him having to stumble over his words to explain that no, he and Tyler are not an item. (Surprisingly, Tyler usually plays along with them and tries to keep them thinking they are. It’s really starting to mess with him).

The spike in activity around Columbus had been keeping them quite busy. They’d just gotten home late from dealing with a fairy ring in the back of an old estate and had settled with a late 1 am dinner in the living room with Jiffy.

“You’re both never around after the shop, really,” he says, leaves ruffling a bit. Josh still doesn’t understand how that works, but it’d be very rude of him to ask.

“Yeah well, it’s been busy. I don’t really know why? Anyways, we should honestly talk about how the fairies had a crush on Joshie here,” Tyler says, mouth full of food.

He feels himself scowl. “They did not. And don’t talk with your mouth full,” he says, reaching for another piece of bread. He hears Tyler laugh into his drink.

“I mean, I don’t blame them. You’re adorable! You’d be a catch for anyone. Anyways, they totally did and the only reason they agreed to leave into their own fourth dimensional realm was because you asked them nicely,” he says, smiling at the look on Josh’s face.

Okay, maybe they had a little thing for Josh and had talked about how his aura felt “magical” but what does he, or Tyler for that matter, know anyways. He feels Tyler staring at him.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” he says, wiping around his mouth.

“No, just thinking about something they said,” he says, before shrugging. “I’ll look for it later. Don’t you worry,” he settles on.

Later, apparently, involves some time that night when Tyler bursts into Josh’s room holding an old looking book, turning on the lights and yelling, “JOSH. I figured it ou-holy shit. Don’t panic.”

He sleepily opens his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Just, don’t panic okay?”

Josh starts looking around and… holy shit. He’s floating. He’s floating and so is everything in his room. The crystals that hang from his ceiling are glowing brightly, like stars in the dark, and he can see that Tyler is smiling like a giant idiot and his first thought, aside from how he’s going to get down, is that Tyler looks so great. He realizes that not only are the crystals glowing, but they’re emitting a hum (he realizes that it’s in a D-minor, one of his favorite chords) and that he feels a humming under his own skin, as if he could start conducting the space around him.

“Tyler. Tyler, what’s going on,” he says, looking down at Tyler, who is gently placing the book he’s carrying on the floor and walking over toward the bed, smiling like a mad man.

“This is amazing! Josh! You’re amazing! Oh my god, I should have seen it before!” he says, still grinning up at Josh.

“Tyler, please. I’m scared,” he says, trying to keep his panic out of his voice, trying to ignore how he feels tears threatening to spill. He’s terrified, actually, the buzzing he feels under his skin rippling up his arms in waves and making him even more nervous. What if he’s dangerous? What if he’s a liability now? What if he hurts Tyler?

He feels a gentle hand on his arm and looks down to see Tyler smiling at him, more softly than before. “Hey, it’s okay. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. I got you. I’m going to bring you down gently okay? And I’m going to put back the necklace I made you, it should help, trust me.”

He knows Tyler isn’t asking but he still nods and goes “I trust you. I always trust you.” He sees Tyler smile as he gently tugs him down toward the bed. He places the necklace back around his neck and when Tyler lets go of his arm, he doesn’t float. The buzzing is still there and he can still hear the humming in D-minor. The crystals hanging from his ceiling are still glowing, but Tyler is smiling at him.

“Tyler, what’s wrong with me?” he asks, shaking from adrenaline and fear, though both are tampering down the more he sees Tyler smile at him.

“Nothing! Josh, you’re amazing. You’re so amazing, nothing is wrong with you, no, it’s the opposite!” he rambles, running back to grab his discarded book and turning pages furiously. “You’re just sensitive to the weird. The universe has chosen you to be a conduit for it here. There isn’t anything wrong with you Josh,” he says, still smiling.

A conduit for the weird, of course he was a conduit for the weird.

“I won’t hurt you?”

“No! No, here, try touching the space,” Tyler says, wiggling his fingers at Josh.

“What?”

“There’s a small tear in space again, somewhere in your room, which is why you reacted to it. It’s why you could sew the fabric the first time so easily. I’ll look around for it, but feel free to experiment,” Tyler rambles, already looking under the bed for whatever tear in space there was.

“Experiment?” he says, already wiggling his fingers slightly and noticing how the D-minor chord changes, how the colors of the glowing crystals changes.

“Yep! You were chosen by the universe Josh; you can break the rules of normalcy. Experiment. You won’t break anything,” Tyler says, hands running around the corners of the room, still searching for the tear.

He begins moving his hands more, focusing on the buzzing in them and the way it feels. He watches as the crystals hanging on his ceiling glow different colors, blinking as if saying a message or dancing to a specific song. The chord he hears changes again, to an E-minor. He looks over at Tyler, who is staring fondly at him.

“Can you hear it too?” he asks, moving his toes and relishing in the way the colors change above him. Tyler shakes his head.

“Not this time. This time the universe is singing just for you, Josh, and you’re the conductor,” he says, before going “A-ha! Found the tear!”

Josh stops wiggling his fingers and looks over to where Tyler is struggling to move the dresser, and finally points triumphantly to a small sliver of purple light radiating from his the corner.

“There’s your problem, Joshie. Just gotta fix it up and your room will stop glowing like a disco!”

He watches Tyler run back out and come back again holding the thread, struggling to thread it through the needle. Josh walks over the tear and sits cross-legged in front of it, admiring how it hums quietly. He doesn’t really know why, but he chooses to run his index finger up the length of the tear, and he hears Tyler laugh quietly behind him as the tear in space seals up. The crystals stop glowing; the humming stops and the buzzing he felt under his skin is gone as soon as he drops his finger. He’s exhausted, and he doesn’t really realize he’s slumped back until Tyler is gently dropping his head into his lap and running his fingers through his hair.

“I got you, don’t worry. It’s really rough on the body, having all that energy through it. Want me to move you back to your bed?”

Josh shakes his head a little. “No, can we, I know you probably want to go to bed but”

“Nah, we can stay here. I’m really comfy. Are you?” Tyler asks, still running his fingers through Josh’s hair. Josh nods slightly, closing his eyes and letting himself feel comforted by the gesture. “Good, then we can stay right here. I can start explaining what happened, if you want. Or I can tell you what argument you missed between Jiffy and I,” he hears Tyler say above him.

“What did you and Jiffy fight about this time?” he asks, wanting to avoid missing anything vital due to his exhaustion.

“Well, I should start with, it wasn’t my fault. I opened up a book, and how was I supposed to know it could screech? No one labeled it as a howler, and you’d left for the grocery store and he was so pissed,” he hears Tyler start, hands still working their way through his hair. He doesn’t get to hear the rest of the story, though.

He wakes up the next morning, looking up at a sleeping Tyler. He sits up gently, waking up Tyler in the process.

“Shoot, sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you! That probably wasn’t comfortable, I’m so sorry-“ He realizes that Tyler is sleepily smiling at him.

“It’s fine, Josh. You didn’t want to move and I don’t blame you. I scooted so I was leaning against the wall and I slept fine,” he says, sitting up and stretching. Josh grimaces slightly at the pops he hears in the other’s back, but smiles back at him. “Come on, let’s go get some coffee. Jiffy and I will explain what we found out last night and what happened, and we’ll move on with our day okay? Maybe take the day off though, you’ll probably be exhausted still today.”

Turns out Tyler wasn’t kidding about being exhausted still. While he slept fine, Josh still managed to fall asleep on the kitchen table next to Jiffy’s planter not five minutes after sitting and waiting for coffee. He wakes up to a gentle hand on his shoulder from Tyler, who places a cup of coffee next to him.

“Sorry, but being a conduit for the universe is quite a taxing thing. I was serious about taking the day off. I set out some blankets and extra pillows in the living room for you, just make yourself a nest and sleep,” he says, sitting across from Josh.

“What does that mean?” Josh asks, taking a sip of his coffee and reaching for the pile of toast Tyler seems to have made. He didn’t realize he’d be starving too.

“What, make a nest? I mean, you can cocoon up too, I guess but,”

“No, I mean, what does it mean, that I’m a whatever for the universe?”

“You promised to explain to him last night, Tyler!” Jiffy says, leaves ruffling. Tyler rolls his eyes.

“Yeah sorry, we got a little side tracked with a tear in space in his room and the whole thing got outta hand, anyways, Josh, you’re a conduit for the universe. You were chosen, at some point, before you even existed on this timeline, to be the link between the forces of the universe and our world,” he says, excitedly waving a piece of toast.

“Dude, what the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means that your life is gonna get weirder now. It’s not easily explainable because, well, honestly, conduits are really rare. Like, really, really ‘haven’t heard of one in years and last documented one was back in the 1300’s’ rare. But you can do what you did last night. You can work the forces of the universe, whatever they are. There’s no manual for it, but here we are. And I’ll help you figure it out,” he says, smiling at Josh.

“Jesus, is this why we’re friends?”

Tyler looks at him confused. “What do you mean?”

“You told me, when we first met, you were just naturally attracted to the strange. What if that’s the only reason we’re friends? Because your weirdo senses could sense I’m a freak?”

“JOSHUA DUN YOU ARE NOT A FREAK,” Tyler says, slamming his mug on the table. “And I’m your friend because I love everything about you. Because you didn’t think I was weird. Because when it came down to it, you still stuck around after I introduced you to all the weird parts of my life. Because even in a parallel universe, we’re still together, we still find each other and we’re still friends who care about each other. That’s why we found each other here, that’s why we’re here. And you’re not a freak, Josh. You’re the most special person in the universe,” he says, taking another piece of toast and putting it against Josh’s mouth. “Now, quit saying dumb stuff and eat more toast. You’re probably starving. Embodying the forces of the universe to seal a tear in space itself really drains you,” he says.

He does spend the rest of the day at home, opting not to open the shop. Tyler stays home as well, keeping an eye on Josh (though he insists that he’s simply doing research from his library at home) and bringing him food and insisting Josh doesn’t leave his nest of blankets.

“Can I hurt people?” he asks Tyler some time later, watching the other look up, confused look on his face.

“What do you mean? Like, in general? Everyone can hurt someone, Josh. I don’t think you’d ever intentionally hurt anyone, you’re too sweet,”

“No I mean, with this thing. Being a conduit or whatever. Can I hurt people? Like you, can I ever hurt you?”

“No, no never. You can channel and control the universe’s forces, and that includes the strange. It’s probably why that demonic record found you, but you won’t hurt anyone. I think the universe chose you because it just knew that about you. There’s not a mean bone in your body. It can trust you with that much power,” he says, looking at Josh with a look he can’t quite make out.

“I’m scared,” he says again, still watching Tyler’s face, which turns into a sad smile.

“Yeah, I know. It’s okay to be, though. And I’ll still be here, through everything that happens. If you need me to tell you and swear I’ll never let you hurt anyone, then you have my word on that,” he says, holding out a pinky toward Josh. He wraps his own pinky around Tyler’s and smiles.

“Thanks,” he says, snuggling back into the blanket nest.

\--

It goes back to normal again, mostly. The universe doesn’t bother Josh anymore, and all the jobs he and Tyler work are relatively small. Possessed doorway that leads to another parallel dimension, howling books that needed to be sewn shut because they kept trying to shout incantations to set things alight and no amount of reasoning would make them stop, the simple stuff. It was really starting to give them a sense of security, that maybe, after the big reveal, things would be slightly normal.

“You realize our normal is like, the weirdest of things for people?” he asks one day, staring as Tyler sets about doing…he’s not entirely sure, but it involves carving intricate patterns into crystals.

“Well, yeah. But our everyday is far more fascinating!” he says, smiling up at Josh and holding a crystal out to him. “Can you blow on this?”

“…What”

“You channel the forces of the universe! So I have a theory you maybe can energize this for me. Just think really hard about positive energy, like the feeling you felt when you were changing the colors of the crystals in your room,” he says, still holding out the carved crystal toward Josh.

“Okay, fine, but I’m not blowing on it. Just let me hold it or something,” he says, closing his eyes and concentrating on the feeling he felt. After what feels like hours, he begins to feel the buzzing again. “Oh. There is it,” he says, eyes still closed.

“Talk to me Joshie. What are you feeling?” Tyler says, gently placing the crystal in the palm of Josh’s hand.

“Its…it’s like finding a thread? But the right thread. Like finding the right note on a piano when you were searching for it for a while, you just know,” he says, and opens his eyes when he hears Tyler start laughing. The crystal in the palm of his hand is glowing a little, but he’s more focused about how close Tyler is to him, to his face. He could feel the energy off him, radiating in waves of blues.

“You’re the most amazing person ever,” he hears Tyler say, as he passes the crystal back, watching as Tyler leans away and the blues fade. He’s not nearly as exhausted as he was before, this time feeling more in control of the events.

“So, its an on command thing then?” he asks, sitting in the chair across from Tyler’s.

“Honestly? No idea. I have no clue to what extent you can do things. But I trust in pushing you to certain degrees of it, knowing what I know. I’d never ask you to do anything dangerous or anything I even have the slightest of doubt in,” Tyler states, placing the crystal into a small pouch.

The phone on the wall starts ringing, and Tyler scrambles to pick it up. “Tyler Joseph speaking,” he states, looking over at Josh. “Mysterious force? Priest didn’t work? Right, right.” Josh watches as Tyler scribbles down note after note on a notepad, using the stupid alien pencil Josh got him as a gag gift. “We can stop by tonight. I’ll look into some stuff and hopefully we can figure out how to get your home back to you. No problem!”

He hangs up and excitedly looks at Josh, who just sighs.

“Okay, what’s the job that’s got you all kinds of wired?”

“WE GOT THE WEIRDEST CASE EVER. Mysterious force that won’t let them inhabit their home. None demonic, because it doesn’t seem malicious yet, so maybe demonic? The priest wasn’t able to help and they called us,” he excitedly says, already rummaging through stacks of books.

“You have no idea what this is, do you,”

“Nope!”

“This doesn’t even bother you a little bit? Like, we’ve always gone in with an idea of what it is, you’ve always had a vague idea, but you have zero clue this time,” he says, watching as Tyler shuts another book and starts dragging down jars from a shelf.

“No idea, and it bothers me, like, 2%. I’m just way too excited. It’s not every day I get to see something new!”

Josh rolls his eyes. “Yeah, alright, fine.”

By the time Josh is locking up the shop, Tyler is already skipping to the car shouting “HURRY UP JOSH,” at him. He sighs and walks over.

“Calm down and get in,” he says.

He spend the entire drive to the estate having to hear him excitedly run down the possibilities of what this thing could be, though he’s not even sure Tyler has the vaguest of ideas. When they finally reach the estate, he’s having to keep up with Tyler as he rushes up the steps.

“They’ve basically left the property until they feel comfortable that we’ve gotten rid of whatever is in here, so we really need to figure this out.” Tyler says, running his hands down the walls of the entry room. He swats Tyler’s hand away, ignoring the soft “ow” he hears.

“Don’t go touching anything then! You don’t know what you’re dealing with,” he says, ignoring the weird feeling he’s getting. He figures he’s just been spooked by Tyler and just the entire aura of the home. He quickly follows Tyler up the grand staircase and into a bedroom.

“It’s always like, huge estate houses, isn’t it? Why can’t malevolent forces of the universe and world pick somewhere else?” Tyler says, sitting down and beginning to draw symbols on the floor with chalk and flipping through various pages in his worn out journal. Tyler is still using the pink chalk, and he has the thought that maybe he should just get him a set of multi-colored sticks after this, he feels like Tyler would at least get some amusement from it. He realized slowly, how the buzzing in his skin was starting to feel more present, and the more Tyler drew on the ground, the more pronounced it was.

“Tyler, what are you doing?”

“I’m working on drawing whatever forces are around here out. Why?”

He begins to feel the shift inside him before he can even really process it. “I think it’s working. You need a vessel though, something to ground them into this particular plane,” he says, automatically walking over and drawing a line to connect all the symbols Tyler has drawn into a sort of diamond shape and sitting inside it. He vaguely hears Tyler telling him to stop but it begins to feel like the air is getting sucked out of him, like he’s slowly losing control of his body. When he raises his head to look up at Tyler, he sees a concerned look on his face, and he realizes he’s starting to levitate, and along with that, objects are again moving around them.

“Josh, Josh you need to stop. You need to stop right now, because I don’t-Jesus, you’re possessing something bigger than you and I don’t. I need you to stop, Josh. Step out of the connected runes, please,” Tyler says, trying to reach for Josh’s arm.

He’s aware of Tyler hissing, pulling his hand back after it makes contact with Josh. Whatever he’s allowed to start taking control of him is really scaring him now. He looks at his arms, and realizes that there are symbols starting to appear on his arms, all glowing brightly against his skin. The humming he felt before is far more pronounced, and the minor chord he heard before in his bedroom is now a symphony of chords repeated and he has no control over it. His head is pounding and he begins to lose sense of where Tyler is, where his voice is even though through the buzzing he can occasionally hear a “JOSH, YOU HAVE TO STAY HERE. YOU NEED TO STEP OUT OF THE PORTAL, PLEASE,” but he also registers that other voice in his head, the one telling him to let go, that it’s okay. He can’t help but listen.

“Josh,”

“He is our vessel, Tyler. This was always his destiny,”

He realizes it’s him talking, but not him. He’s so tired, but he can see the panic in Tyler’s eyes. Are those tears? Tyler doesn’t ever cry.

_Do not be afraid, Joshua,_ he hears the voice in his head say. Everything is starting to feel different. He’s vaguely aware that he’s still floating slightly, his own head tilting to look at Tyler.

“I don’t know what you are but you have to let him go, you have to. He’s burning up. You’re burning him up and he meant you no harm. You have no right to this you don’t,”

“This is his destiny, Tyler. He’s the conduit of the universe, a pure soul, a good-hearted person. This was always his destiny. All conduits are meant to hold us, be the vessel of Fate. And yes, he may burn, but all vessels are meant to burn. He’s in no pain, he feels nothing, if that’s what you’re afraid of. Long before either of you were ever born, his destiny for this moment and all forward was written,” he feels himself say.

It’s him moving his mouth, but these aren’t his words. They’re not wrong; he inherently feels them not being wrong.

“YOU CANT DO THIS TO HIM. Yes, he’s pure of heart and soul and he’s amazing and you can’t. You can’t do this to him. Conduits are only supposed to mediate for you, not hold you in their bodies. They’re supposed to help bridge the gaps not take everything in like this! You can’t wear him like this, you can’t,”

Josh realizes a second later, registers the pain in his heart as he sees Tyler fall to his knees, crying. He never meant to hurt Tyler, would never dream of hurting him. He feels his knees bend, kneeling to look at Tyler, whose hands are shaking and whose eyes find his. He wonders absently if Tyler can still see him behind them or if he can only see the other being inhabiting his body.

_Please, stop hurting him. He’s hurting. Don’t make him hurt anymore._

_He is unhurt, Joshua._

_No, he’s- it’s emotional hurt. He’s crying over this. Make it stop, please._

“This vessel is strong, and he is caring, and he was always meant for this, Tyler. You can’t change this. There is no way to change Fate,” he feels himself say. He just wants Tyler to not hurt. He’s aware of his arm moving, reaching over to lift Tyler’s face slightly.

“You have to let him go. You have to let me take him beyond, to use his energy. You knew, you always knew deep down that he would never be able to absorb all the knowledge, all the beings and information and everything that comes with being a conduit. So let him go. He will feel no pain,”

He wonders if him feeling tired, feeling like going to sleep is what they mean by burning up.

_Like a candle, Joshua._

_What happens after?_

_I cannot tell you. But do not be afraid._

_What happens to Tyler?_

_I cannot tell you._

He tunes back in, when he hears Tyler going “No! No you can’t have him. You can’t-He’s a conduit here! He’s meant to stay here not go with you! His energy is supposed to stay here”

“He’s ours, Tyler. He always was. You cannot always save everyone,” he hears himself say, but it’s through this fog. Everything is coming toward him like he’s underwater.

“HE’S ALL I HAVE. You can’t. I wont let you,” Tyler yells, crying and grabbing on to Josh’s arms, which still burn hot, the runes settling into his skin, trying to shove Tyler off as he reaches across the drawn lines.

“Let him go,”

“No, no,” Tyler says, apparently ignoring the pain in his hands. “I’ll share the burden with him. I’ll share the burden of it all; his pain shall be my pain. Everything he must endure as a conduit I’ll share with him. You can use him as the connector, the bridge, but I’ll mediate it, you cannot harm him anymore,”

Josh feels his head tipping, but everything feels like he’s slowly drowning deeper into the water. He’s not too upset. It’s peaceful.

“You know that could backfire. You aren’t the conduit. You could die, trying to save the vessel,”

“HIS NAME IS JOSH, HE IS NOT YOUR VESSEL. His name is Josh Dun, he lets me drag him on stupid cases, he hates bananas, he likes to read the Washington Post to Jiffy, and he’s all I have. He has purple hair and he looks great in pink hair, he means the world to me, and he’s all I have. Fate can be changed. People can alter their destinies. He’s all I have, and you cannot change my mind, you cannot take his being away,”

Josh feels an ache somewhere in his chest for Tyler.

_Just let me go back._

_It’s your destiny. It always was._

“You wish to attempt to shoulder some of the burden, to tie yourself to it?”

He and Fate watch through the same eyes as Tyler sniffles, and tightens his grip on Josh’s arms, ignoring the way his palms have been burnt badly and are past blistering. They watch as his stands up, Josh’s own body following, and as he puts on a defiant face, tears still streaming.

“It wouldn’t be a burden. I’ll be his anchor. Isn’t that what he’d need here? An anchor to hold him, something to help filter the power and magic?”

He can feel Fate becoming amused, and feels himself nod.

“Then that’s it. I tie myself to Josh, to the burden of Fate and Universe, to immortally share the power and the magic that flows through his veins,” he says, grip tightening on Josh’s arms.

“You can die. You’re not chosen, Tyler. This could kill you,”

“I will share the burden,” he says again, staring directly at Josh.

He feels a smile play on his face. Tyler is an idiot, he’s going to kill him for this later, if they both survive and he loves him. And maybe, they’ll need to talk about things.

“Then so be it, Tyler Joseph. You’re a fool, for tempting Fate and determined destiny in this way. His magic will surely one day kill you, but fine.”

Immediately the loudness in his head seems to lighten, and he begins to feel like he’s rising from the depths of the water. Josh becomes more and more aware of the fact that Tyler’s hands are shaking, that he looks pale, can feel the shared hum of everything in his hands.

_He’s a fool. This will kill him._

_Don’t. Don’t let him take everything._

_He’s trying to take everything, Joshua. He thinks he can save you by destroying himself._

“Tyler, let go,” he says, and this time it’s him, even though the runes are still in his skin, still glowing, and he’s still floating.

“Josh?” he says, shakily.

“Yes, but Ty, please, let go,”

“No I can-”

“Ty, you have to let go. You can’t take everything, it’ll kill you and I can’t- you need to let go,” he says, trying to pry off Tyler’s grip on his arms.

Tyler shakes his head. “I can’t. Josh I can’t. I can’t make it stop,” he says, still leeching off Josh and growing paler by the second.

_Make him stop, please. I’m begging you, please._

_You can make it, Joshua. It’s on you and your own powers now._

So he thinks. He thinks about making it stop, about maintaining a connection, but keeping all the power on his end, about using Tyler as a filter, not a literal vessel as well.

Tyler’s hands let go, Josh feels himself fall unceremoniously to the ground and he’s so aware of everything around him. He opens his eyes and looks at Tyler, breaking the linked runes with his foot, who keeps saying “Josh, oh my god Josh I’m so sorry,” over and over as he goes to gently cradle him close.

“You look okay,” he says, watching how Tyler looks fine, looks how he’d looked the minute they’d walked in.

Tyler sniffles a little, “Yeah you. Fuck, you took back almost everything but you. We’re still connected. I can feel your magic, I’m aware of the hum of it but it’s not. It’s not a part of me? It won’t kill you because I’ll help share it with you, but it’s not physically in me. It’s so. Complicated?” he says, gently running a hand through Josh’s hair. He realizes that Tyler is still shaking, his hands unsteady.

“I wanted to keep all of it but I couldn’t. The link we have- if this happens again, some of it will go to you. I can’t stop it anymore. I’m sorry you had to,”

“No. No, I wanted to. This is okay. I’m anchoring you here; I’m going to make sure your okay. You’re- Jesus Josh, you’re freezing,” he says, immediately draping his light jacket on Josh.

“None of it was painful. I was there. It was like, sharing? But everything felt like I was experiencing it under water, and the longer I kept sharing with it, the deeper into the water I fell,” he says, shaking from the cold. When did he even get this cold?

“You were dying. It was, it was killing you from the inside,”

“It’s gone, though. Whatever Fate wanted here, it’s not here. I can’t feel it,” he says, and Tyler nods.

“I felt when it left, I can. I can feel some of it. I’m more aware of the fact there was something here than before,” he says.

They stay on the floor, Josh gently being held by Tyler, for a little while. Once Tyler is done removing the runes off the floor, he helps Josh into the car.

“Everything hurts,” he says, appreciating how Tyler is refusing to let him even try to move into their apartment on his own. Once he’s settled against the headboard of his bed, Tyler sits next to him and doesn’t even complain when Josh lets himself sink a little and use his shoulder as a headrest. Tyler’s hand immediately goes to his hair. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I took you there and-”

“And you can let it go, because you heard the nice entity possessing me, it was destiny. You kinda ruined the plan for them, but it was,” he says, cutting Tyler off.

He notices there’s a small rune on his wrist, faintly there. He runs a finger over it, and it’s slightly raised, like a scar.

“It’s on mine too,” Tyler says, showing Josh his wrist. “We’re literally connected to each other.”

“Yeah. I know maybe I wouldn’t have been your first choice of mediating anchor but,”

“You’re an idiot,”

Tyler stares down at him.

“You are. Tempting fate and destroying predetermined destiny aside, you’re an idiot for thinking I’d rather have anyone else by my side,”

“Josh,”

“No, just because I can’t move and I’ve had arguably a tough day due to your creative form of employment within the supernatural doesn’t mean you get to say you’re a burden to me. I love you. I loved you before the whole dumb, noble wonderful act you did to save me, but that’s it.”

Tyler smiles at him, all glowing joy through tiredness.

“You picked a terrible time to confess your love,”

“Yeah well, I didn’t exactly see you stepping up to the plate,” and for a moment, he thinks maybe he fucked up. But he soon feels Tyler laughing and he starts laughing as well.

“Our lives are a mess, we’re actually a mess, and I don’t think there is anyone else here nor anywhere else I’d rather get to spend it with,” Tyler says, smiling down at Josh.

He can tell he’s grinning like an idiot. “Good, so quit complaining about how you’re not worthy. You are, and when I no longer feel like I’ve been run over by a thousand trains repeatedly, I’ll take you out on a date,” he says, snuggling up closer to Tyler to try to take some of his body heat. He immediately feels Tyler toss a blanket over the both of them. He notices that Tyler’s palms are still bruised, faintly, like watercolor splotches on his skin. They really are a mess together.

“That’s fine. But I’ll have you know, I don’t kiss on the first date,” Tyler says, trying to keep a straight face and starting to fail.

Josh laughs, shaking his head. “What about after near-death experiences? I know I usually save those for after the first date, but you know us, always messing things up for destiny,” he says, looking at Tyler’s face break into a smile.

“Oh well, those, those are definitely okay,” he says, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on Josh’s lips.

Above them, crystals swing slightly and radiate different colors, and when their hands gently intertwine, the humming in their hands settle and they hear a far away chord that sounds just like a D minor while the runes painted on the wall glow faintly warm orange.

 


End file.
